Phew. What a scorcher!
Highgate Wood, 5/30/2009
Strongroom won by 1 run
Strongroom: 192-8 [J.Gower 73]
Jesmond Jaguars: 191-8 [A.Chataway 47]
View the Scorecard
Epic. Not a term to be banded about lightly, but in this case it’s a fitting adjective for an intense and brilliant game of cricket that went to very last ball. There’s something about this fixture that leads to tense, dramatic encounters, and on this occasion we were fortunate to come out on top.
Another beautiful blue sky brought out the sun-worshippers in droves, and a light breeze made for perfect cricketing conditions. My smugness on winning the toss and batting first was short-lived, however, as their opening bowlers [Eccles and Mounsey] were of a higher calibre than anything we had faced thus far this season, and their contrasting height and angle of delivery made for an awkward combination. Their lively pace also exploited some erratic bounce, and it was little surprise that after 13 overs we were 40-4 and in considerable trouble. The Jaguars four slips had been kept busy, and four of our quality batters in Newkirk, Francis, KP and Mellor were back in the hutch. This scenario brought the brother’s Gower to the crease. It’s not often we have batted well together over the years, but somehow the time seemed right for a gutsy middle-order fightback, and we managed to post 110 for the 5th wicket in 21 overs. It was hard work at the start, there was the odd play and miss, and plenty of ‘leaves’, but times were hard and we had to bat patiently to fulfil the 40 overs quota. As the partnership progressed, shots increasingly found the middle of the bat, and it was with some satisfaction that we managed to survive, and even counter-attack, the return spells of Mounsey and the hostile Eccles, as Jaguars skipper Adam hunted for a breakthrough. I was finally stumped for 73 and Dave was run out for a hard-fought 38. At 150-6 off 35 overs we still had some way to go, but Simon ‘The finisher’ Ray enhanced his reputation further with a brilliant cameo [33*] which included some sweetly hoisted boundaries. We finished on a respectable 192-8, a decent total considering our initial difficulties.
Tea: Tim Francis did well to deliver a tea for 22, from his backpack, via public transport. I do enjoy a good ham and mustard sarnie.
So, 193 to win. Game on. Martin and Ujjal started off proceedings nicely, and the first runs off the bat took 3 overs to arrive. Again the surface yielded uneven bounce, but it made for an interesting contest between bat and ball. Ujjal claimed the first scalp as Jags keeper North edged one to Ken Park. This brought the Chataway brothers together in the middle, and it was ironic that this sibling pair repeated the Gower brothers’ feat with both the highest scores and partnership of the innings. Mat [36] looked threatening from the outset, and adopted an aggressive approach to anything slightly loose, whereas Adam [47] was more circumspect. It was during this partnership that Strongroom dropped the first of several catches to go down in the innings (as did Jaguars), and this did little to enhance our match position! The Chataway brothers were just starting to look ominously settled when Mellor [3-34] induced Mat into a mis-hook, which this time he secured the catch himself. By the halfway stage I had a strong premonition that this game would go right to the wire, it just had that 'see-saw' feeling to it. The Jaguars middle order all got into double-figures, and whilst Adam was still at the crease they were still odd’s-on favourites to win. But then Proctor made a key breakthrough by seducing Adam into a false stroke, and we were back in the game. Joe Rafman [2-29] changed the texture of the attack with some sublime left-arm spin that kept the batsmen thinking, and his two victims helped keep us in the hunt. Suddenly the game was veering into the closing stages, and 18 were needed off two overs. However, Ujjal somewhat spoiled his figures in the penultimate over [14 runs], and I thought the game was up. 4 runs to win off the final over. Mark Mellor with the ball in his hand. One run. Dot ball. Clean bowled. Dot ball. Dot ball. 3 to win off the last ball. Firm strike to mid-on, one run…run out! Mellor had weaved his magic again, and victory was ours by one run.
I’d like to mention the great spirit shown by the Jaguars – they are always a pleasure to play against, win or lose, and our vocal celebrations reflected how much it meant to us to beat them. Also Ujjal, who has probably played his last game for us. Over the past 2 seasons he has formed a potent new-ball attack with Paddy, and we’ll all miss his brilliant bowling and ever-positive attitude.
Written By: J.Gower
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